this ain't my goddamn cup of tears (part IV)

(Continued from part III.)

"This thing..." Hiro trailed off, staring into the distance. Emilly tried another incantation, sighing when it did nothing.

The woman at street level called up to the balcony. "D̷͖̦̟̮̦̬́̇̀́̈́̾̏͝o̶̻̝̱̤̞̞̠͎͚͑̅̔̎̇̿ͅç̸̪͓̭̳̩̪̺̒̈̿͆̕͘̚͝ͅ, Mom would love this--EEK--"

Emilly watched, vaguely horrified, as the clown on the street below danced forward, batting the gun out of the woman's grasp. Grinning.

"I know you would not tell her, B̸̛͙̮͍͌̆̾̈̽͗͆ḝ̴̘͖̙͕̳̳̮̀̂̏͠͝l̶̢̰̙̬̥͙͕̪̎̽̅͠l̶̛̬̪̗͇͂̄͐̀̋̀̈͆͜ą̵̦͓̫̌͠, and do you really think that would matter?"

It was getting easier to hear the bursts of distortion. That, or she was starting to lose her mind. Her brow furrowed, though, seeing the actions of the clown.

"My guns are useless!" the woman said, throwing the second aside in frustration.

"Oh, NO--"
Emilly exclaimed. Now she was worried--if her spellcraft couldn't banish them, and guns wouldn't work, then what was left? She snarled under her breath.

"He's so irritatingly smug."

The platinum-haired...doctor? Was she a...stepped forward, leaning over the balcony. "Okay, B̵͇̼̙͓͆͗̆̕̚͝͝è̴̮͛̀̈̂l̵͚̋̕͘̕ͅḷ̵̡͕͉̻̼͌͒̋̿ą̷̧̗̳̞͉̾̔̚͘, stand back, I am about to try soemthing--"

The dark-haired woman obligingly stepped back. "If I do the other thing, I'll get in trouble."

What other thing? That was less than helpful.

The woman in pink piped up from behind them, where she leaned against the doorway. "You can't kill illusions with bullets."

The dark-haired woman called up. "Illusions?"

Emilly frowned, looking from the scene on the street, to the woman in pink, and back again. Were they--just illusions?

"That's what psychotherapy is for," the woman said dismissively. "Though it doesn't work all that well."

"Oh, are they not real clowns?" Emilly asked. Then tilted her head. She had asked that before, hadn't she? When they were...where were they? Where had they been?

"Wait..."

The woman shrugged. "Best just to enjoy the show."

Emilly looked at the Duke, hearing someone pound up the stairs. Soon the dark-haired woman burst onto the balcony.

"Okay, I'm sorry, what are those things? I just put in enough bullets to kill a football team--"

Meanwhile, Emilly watched the Duke sit down at the small cafe table on the balcony. Pretty mosaic pattern, she thought. She took the seat next to him, one hand idly tracing the patterns. "When was the last time you took your medicine?" she murmured, then blinked. Why had she asked that?

The dark-haired woman looked at them. "May I ask you a question?"

Emilly looked up. "Of course. What is it?"

"What the heck are you people, and why is your husband calling for spirits of the East in Enochian?"

The woman in pink turned and walked back into the room. Emilly heard heels striking the stairs down. She saw the woman emerge thorugh the slats in the ornate iron railing. She walked up to the striped clown, poking it in the chest. It just grinned at her.

Emilly watched for a moment, then turned her attention to the dark-haired woman. "That is...rather a long story. How best to sum up...We're a shipping company," she began, then paused. Yes. They were a shipping company. That's what she'd told people, when they were...where?

Justine staggered out to the balcony, bracing one hand on the wall. "What's going on?" she whispered. "I think I passed out..."

Emilly looked, concerned, at Justine, then continued. "We mostly deal in...rare artifacts, spices, occasional objects of desire of various kinds...you know how it is."

Zack appeared behind Justine. "A shipping compagny that is specialized in interdimensionnal exchanges," he muttered.

"Did..." Justine swallowed. "Did someone say...'clown'?"

Hiro looked up at that. "Uh...Don't look down, Justine..."

Justine blanched.

Hiro leaned in, his paw covering her hand. "Em..."

"Hmm?"

"The Ringmaster...at the Dark Circus..."

Her attention was briefly drawn from Hiro, as the woman in pink walked up to the larger of the two clowns on the street, poking that one, too. It...giggled.

"He sent them," he whispered urgently.

Wait. Who sent who?

"The...Ringmaster?" she asked, tilting her head. "He's not supposed to be able to do that!"

Do what, she thought. What was he not supposed to be able to do?

Hiro leaned in closer, still whispering. "...and I think--I think he's after Justine..."

Justine screamed at that, running back into the office. "No no no no NO--"

Emilly blinked. "Why would he be--this doesn't make sense," she started.

The dark-haired woman looked at them. "All right...everything up to talking about a Dark Circus I understand...more than I like to admit...But why is this Ringmaster after Justine? And how dangerous is it going to be for the ȉ̶̡̢̱̜̪͍̠͕̫̺̪̮͛̔̍́̂̏͛͐ŝ̷̨̛͍̞͈̙̫͈̽͠ḷ̸̨̨͔͙͓̰͍͇̠͇̩̓̽̐̆͌̽̇̒̄͘a̴̢̨͈̫̯̰̝̮̞̒͂̌̈́̔̐͋̽̕͜͝ņ̵̠͖̭̲͉̦̣̫̲̠̼͑̓̎̈́͘d̸̛̻̪̖̘̭̲̱̳̭̭̭̀́̀̓͛̊͐̀͊͊̓̐̿̋̓?"

Oof. That burst was particularly bad. Emilly sighed. "Well, my Duke, that does move up the timetable, doesn't it? We have to find at least that portal...and close it."

Ah. Portals. Yes. She remembered that. They'd gone to...wherever this was...to investigate rifts that had appeared there, portals to...or from...other places. Hoping it would help them solve the problem of...of...

She blinked, sitting upright. Tannhauser Gate! She remembered now. The Rift they'd managed to stabilize, the station that they'd built in sections, as they needed them, to investigate. Yes. Okay. Some things were starting to come back.

"One more clown on the loose," the woman in pink called up from street level.

"Another one?" Emilly asked. Bella glanced down.

"I like clowns," she said slowly. "But I don't understand..."

"B̶͕̖̭̥̀͆̓̓́͜͝e̴̘̻͇͆̂̆̽̍͂l̸͎̪͇͍̫̣̗̅̈͠l̵͓͉̋͑̾̿͜a̶̧̤̹̹̰͉̳͊͂...we found an old castle," Hiro said slowly. "Which has many...elder...things..."

Meanwhile, the woman in pink nodded up at them. "Yes, there's one down by the radio station. Maybe looking for a better career."

Justine staggered out to the balcony again, seemed about to look down to the street, then slid down the wall, wrapping her arms around her knees, rocking.

"So there's three now?" Emilly asked. "But--wait, where did the striped one go?"

"And, well," Hiro continued, "I suspect...the Ringmaster is actually...Ń̵̴̷̷̵̷̵̸̴̷̡̡̡̧̢̢̛̛̛̠̹̥̞̻̤̺͓̱̦͕̱͖̙̗̯̰͍͈̝̜̥̲̭̲͔͎̣͓̤̣̬̥̞͍̮̝̩͆̾̀̊̓̇͒͑̈́͑́̐̀̌̉͗̍̿͌́̆͒͐̄̃̈́̇̀̓̊͆̏̿̇́̚͜͜͠͝ͅͅy̴̷̴̵̷̶̴̷̢̡̡̛̛͖̞̥̝̣̰̤͙̣̬͎̩̭͎̦͔̤͕̘̼̯͈̪͖̯̺̝͚̹͇͋͑̈́́̂̂̓̓̉̍͋̋̓̿̏̇͗̇̄̊͑̿̋̌̄̎́̚ä̶̶̷̵̵̸̸̸̴̷̴̶̷̸̶̴̸̧̨̛̛̠͈̥̝̤̙͚̦̹͚̫̱̰̯̘̖̼̼̠̗̥̺͉̥̤͇̹̦͈͉͉̠̙̹̳͇̪͔̗͖̥̼̟̭̖̯̮̻͙̳̤̂̔̈͐̎͊̒͑̃̉́͋͊͌̃̈́͋̋̉͂̏̈̈́̅̀̐͛̃͋̀̈͗̓͗́̀̑̋͐̿̋̈́́́̓̊̅̂́̉̿͘͘̕͘͜͜͝͝͝͝ͅr̷̵̵̴̷̶̷̷̵̸̷̢̛̞̝̟̖̲̞̝͕̠̝͍̹̰̱̦̣̮̖̪̟͖̰͔̹̟͙̤͓͎̙̬̅͋̊̌̈̿͆͆̆̈́̈́̌̐͋́̌̾̊̈́̋̇͐̓̿̓̈́͋̍̀̍́̃̈́̔̂͘̚̕̕͘̕̕͝͝͠ͅl̷̷̴̵̴̶̵̵̴̵̴̴̵̸̷̷̢̨̡̨̛̬͓̻̻̬̫͔̱͍̯̭͙̗̭̙̠̭͓̳̗̱̟͓͓̤͇͚͍͎̮̤̼̞̮̖͉͚̖̮͎̯̙̟͕̩̙͍͔̻̬̺̜̺̘͔͔͙̲̙͙̬͓̤̺̥̋̑̀̈̍̿̿͆̔̓͆̾̀́̽̔́̔̌́̃̒̋͗̍̅͌̇̊̃̐̍͐̀̈̈́̈́̌͒̈́͛̃̓̾͛́̀̔͐͑̍̈͒̾̎̊̂͒̚̕̚͘͜͝͠͠a̵̴̶̶̶̶̴̸̷̧̧̢̛̝͇̻͙͈̮̠̯̦̺̬͍̖̞͇͎͍̰̪̜̻͈̿̅̀̌̈́̏͛̐̓̍͒͌̊̓̒̀̐̋̍͗͋̀̕͘͜͝͝t̴̶̵̵̶̶̶͔͖͉͍̙͕͕̭̦̻̤̫͕͔̪͎̖̫̠̳̗͓̹͇̼͈͛̊̈́͌͛̓͌̃̏̔̈́͆̍͐̎̈́̐͝͠ͅḩ̴̴̸̶̸̶̵̷̶̴̵̴̵̴̢͓̯͇̳̫̣̠̲̝͚̳̭͙̬͙̰̼͉̗̘̜̲̘͉̩̙̟͎̗͎̞̳̹̝̞͇̫̳̹̪̥͕̺͖̩̻̪͔͇͉̼̝͕̺̘͇̠̽̈́͐̀̽̀̓̃̀̌̋͑́́͋͌̑̈̉͊̂̿̐͋̀̃̆̓̎̀͒́̓̑̈͛̂̿̔̑̇̋͘͜͠͝ͅơ̴̸̷̵̶̶̶̶̸̸̴̷̵̴̵̧̨̡̡̢̢̡̨̨̧̨̛̛̳̦̮͇̜̝̱̼̥̙͖̟̼̹̹̲̜̙̖͓̥̯͙̝̺̖͎̜̠̤̦͖̦̞̬͈̺̘͔̦̻͎̘͓͙͔̱̳̤͓̟̟̬̦͙̻̅̃́͊̀͋͗̄́͗̀̅̏̽̓̂̓͗̏̔̈͋̄̃̃̒͛̊̊̓͊̓̌̊̿̎̿̅̆̽̈̇̅̕̕̕͝͝͠͝͠͝ͅţ̶̷̵̷̵̸̵̴̸̶̶̴̨̢̡̧̡̛̤͉͇̰͍̼̭̜̘̬͔̝̗̜͕̪͎̼̘͈͉̫̱̗̻̼͍̪͉̠̖͇͎͍̳̮̟̥̲̣̋̓̈͛̊̓̈́͂̂͋̅̃́͂̎̃͐̏̂͌̐̏̾̔͛̾͋̂͗̎̉̿̽̎͂̓͌͛͒̿̊̎̋̾̿͊́̕̕̚̕͘͜͝͠͠͝ę̴̴̴̶̶̵̶̵̶̷̶̨̛̛̟͈̦̞̞̝̲̮̹̦̤̝̞̩͍̠͇̦̰̩̘̪͕̪̫͈̮̜̬̱͍̣͕̮̩̳̇̔́̈́̅̇͂͋͊̌͆̿̃̉͆̉̾̊̉͑̄͐̽̾̉͐̌̀̐͘̚̚̕͜͠͠͝ṕ̴̸̷̴̶̷̷̶̢̝̙͈̰͇̪̪̫̬̼̭̪̞̳̘͔͉̞̮̬̞̫̲̻͓̗̩̱̟̝͈͓͐̇̔̄̎̏̄̌̾̇̃́̎̀̂̑̇̊̎͑̋̍̊͗̿͊͌̈́̓̐̓͂͌̕͜͠͠͝..."

Emilly winced. That burst of sound had--hurt.

The dark-haired woman looked grim. "You know better than to speak the name of any elder god."

Emilly turned back to the Duke, all color drained from her face.

"Miss V̵̞̰͋͒̚͝ạ̴̘̲̺͒ͅl̶̫͎̮̩̠͛̄̔o̴̡̧̙͚̘̻̐̈́͗̆͛r̵̢͖̠̤̀͘i̸̢̯̥͒͒̾͠s̸̛͚̀̈́̍͒͒͝," Hiro began patiently. "We just met, but..."

"Hiro, you can't be serious!" Emilly said, her tone urgent. "We weren't looking for him! We were looking for--"

"There are a lot of things about us, you might not understand," Hiro finished, interrupting her.

Emilly looked at the others on the balcony. "...Something...else," she finally finished, weakly.

The dark-haired woman tilted her head. "I'm sorry, I'm being too nosy again, aren't I?"

"No, no," Hiro reassured her. "Your mother has been a great help..."

Emilly's head hurt. She couldn't parse this right now, there was too much dissonance. "All right all right all right," she said, shaking her head. "Clowns first, everything else--later."

"Duchess..." Hiro began. Emilly shook her head, waving her hands as if sweeping the thoughts away.

"No. First things first. Make sure they're all gone."

(Continued in part V.)